


Alliance

by Treerat



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arranged Marriage, F/M, Have some idea where it goes (I hope), Maybe a slow burn, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-13 16:37:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21175883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Treerat/pseuds/Treerat
Summary: This is done in response to this illohttps://e621.net/post/show/1356285/2017-absurd_res-anthro-canid-canine-clothing-disneI am unsure if this world is preindustrial or early industrial (guess I'll work that out in time).A marriage arrangement is about to be made when a mysterious letter arrives.





	Alliance

Chapter 1: The Letter

Bonnie watched the young doe walking away from her. She was Judith, one of two daughters produced during Bonnie’s third pregnancy, and she wasn’t even aware of her mother’s presence.

“This does not bode well,” Bonnie thought at the sight of Judith’s ramrod straight posture.

That stance spoke of a towering anger held under tight control. Bonnie had known that her daughter would not take the news Stuart bestowed on her well. Knew Judy wouldn’t like it in the least for a couple of reasons. One being that she knew the buck involved too well and two, the arrangement for her marriage to him would restrict her desire for freedom even more so. That her father would not budge one bit on the issue merely magnified her frustration.

“You’re two and twenty, Judith! It’s time you took a mate and see to the start of your own family!” Stewart had said, firmly.

“With Nathan Haverson?! I’d rather wed a predator, even a _fox_! I’d have better chances at kits with a vulpine than I will with Nathan!” Judith ground out.

“Nathan will do his duty to provide heirs, regardless of his rumored preferences,” her father said. “I’ve already contacted his father to begin the arrangements. An alliance with the Haverson’s will be advantageous to both of our families.”

“But not to, or for, me!” Judith replied.

Bonnie was listening at the door. And upon hearing those last words, withdrew down the hallway so as not to be caught at the door. She shook her head at Judy’s retreating back. Of all her daughters, Judy was the rogue of the family. Always reading books on history and science and the travels of others. Not for her the flowery romance novels that so many other young fems read with dreamy eyes. Judith turned and went out of sight. Bonnie sighed. She felt for the girl…

“Hardly girl, at her present age!” a part of her reminded.

…but marriages for those of the upper classes are as much interfamily alliances as anything else. And much as she would, in this case, prefer otherwise….

Bonnie brought up her right hand. In it she held a folded up letter that was wax sealed. She didn’t recognize the hand writing on it (it was addressed to her) but she had an odd feeling that she’d seen it before. The previous thought on those romance novels came to her again, something that was a staple in many of them.

“The arrival of the mysterious letter or missive that changes everything,” Bonnie thought as she broke the seal and opened it up.

She read through it…three times. Then, looked to where she had last seen Judith.

“Oh my GOD!” she whispered to herself.

Back at the door of her husband’s study, Bonnie opened it and went in.

* * * * * * * * * *

An expression on his face that bordered on being dazed, Stuart Hopps regarded the letter lying on his desk. Even after going through it several times it was hard for him to believe….

“It’s been, what, at least 12 years since we last heard from them,” he said.

“Closer to fourteen,” Bonnie said as she looked over one of two papers she held. “This was their acknowledgement that they had received the final repayment of the loans they had given us and the others.”

Stuart rubbed his paws over his face then did the same with his eyes.

“God, Goddess, and Earth Spirits, how could we forget about this?!” he mumbled.

“It has been quite some time and…”

Bonnie switched to looking at the other paper she held.

“…I think part of us hoped that by forgetting it that it would go away,” she said.

Her mate closed his eyes and let his mind drift back all of those years. Farming in the Burrows area was predictable and good most of the time. But, seventeen years before, the lands were beset with unusually violent storms that left the crops, even equipment and buildings, of many a farmer devastated. The Hopps estate and lands were as hard hit as their neighbors. There was a need for money, loans, to tide them and the others over as they recovered. But, there simply wasn’t enough gold and silver funds available to help so many. Then, a couple, who had been traveling through the country, came to the rescue. They had the moneys available to fill those financial needs and were willing to lend it out at quite a reasonable interest rate. But, before they did, they wanted to tour the lands and talk to those mammals there. Since the Hopps estate was pretty much in the middle of everything, Stuart and Bonnie offered them rooms and food so that they could more easily access the area vs their remaining at one of the hostels in the nearby city. They accepted and brought their eight-year-old son with them. While he sometimes accompanied his parents on their surveys, the lad spent the larger part of his time at the main manor. And due to not being a rabbit, was of great curiosity to Stu and Bonnie’s kits, sometimes uncomfortably so. Bonnie had had to shoo off the young ones a number of times to give the lad some peace. The inspections were completed and the pair were concerned about several farms abilities to recover. Stuart did his best to convince them that they could, after all they were his long time neighbors and friends. Things remained uncertain until one day. The Lady had come to Bonnie and she carried a dozing five-year-old Judith in her arms.

“She was sleeping so peacefully that it was a shame to wake her,” the woman said as she hands the kit to Bonnie.

Then, she asked Bonnie if she would meet her out on the manor’s great front porch when she was done putting Judy to bed. After taking care of her kit, the doe went to the porch and seated herself next to her guest.

“Lady Hopps, you and your husband would have us loan coin to the farms that are of real risk,” the woman said.

“Yes,” Bonnie replied.

“I will do my best to convince my mate to lend the money.”

Bonnie felt a surge of hope and thanked the Lady.

“Thank me if I succeed,” the fem suggested. “However, if successful, I have a requirement to go with it.”

“And what would that be?” Bonnie asked.

* * * * * * * * * * *

“And now, they are ready to finalize the arrangement agreed upon,” Bonnie told her mate, handing him the witness signed agreement papers.

She reread that fateful missive again, looking for any detail(s) that she might have missed before. At the same time, Stuart was reconfirming everything in that agreement in his mind while looking for something, anything, that might give them an out from this. By the fourth reading, he had to admit defeat, short of the son or Judith dying or both parties agreeing to call it off, there wasn’t one.

“I don’t know what to do!” Stuart said.

“Have you formalized anything with the Haverson family?” asked his mate.

“Uaaa, no. I told Nathan’s father, Griffon, that I wanted to talk about arranging a marriage alliance between our families,” he said.

“Did you say that Judith was on offer?”

“No.”

“Good. That means we are not committed to anything.”

Bonnie seated herself in a comfortably padded chair and then let out a sigh.

“I don’t even want to consider what a disaster we’d have on our paws if things were established with their clan and _this_ came up,” she said.

Stu shuddered at that “vision”. It would have so damaged his and the family’s reputation that few would be willing to deal with, to trust, them on anything from then on. Then, he thought of something.

“Oh Divine, how is Judith going to react to this?” he wondered in a clearly concerned tone.

Bonnie was having the same thought.

“I will tell her,” she said.

Considering the earlier confrontation with his daughter, Stu was quite relieved not to have another one.

“Not that I’m not going to hear about it from her later,” he thought in resignation.


End file.
